[1] "I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will
speak in the bitterness of my soul. [2] I will say to God, Do not condemn
me; let me know why thou dost contend against me. [3] Does it seem good to
thee to oppress, to despise the work of thy hands and favor the designs of
the wicked? [4] Hast thou eyes of flesh? Dost thou see as man sees? [5] Are
thy days as the days of man, or thy years as man's years, [6] that thou
dost seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, [7] although thou knowest
that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of thy hand? [8] Thy
hands fashioned and made me; and now thou dost turn about and destroy me.
[9] Remember that thou hast made me of clay; and wilt thou turn me to dust
again? [10] Didst thou not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese?
[11] Thou didst clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with
bones and sinews. [12] Thou hast granted me life and steadfast love; and
thy care has preserved my spirit. [13] Yet these things thou didst hide in
thy heart; I know that this was thy purpose. [14] If I sin, thou dost mark
me, and dost not acquit me of my iniquity. [15] If I am wicked, woe to me!
If I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace
and look upon my affliction. [16] And if I lift myself up, thou dost hunt
me like a lion, and again work wonders against me; [17] thou dost renew thy
witnesses against me, and increase thy vexation toward me; thou dost bring
fresh hosts against me. [18] "Why didst thou bring me forth from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me, [19] and were as though I
had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. [20] Are not the days of
my life few? Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort [21] before I
go whence I shall not return, to the land of gloom and deep darkness, [22]
the land of gloom and chaos, where light is as darkness."
